National

Ambassador Joe Wilson interviewed by Moses Ross on April 28, 2008. The interview took place in the offices of the Hillary Clinton for President in downtown Portland, Oregon.

I was over at Wikipedia looking up the dates for the last remaining primary dates when I found some interesting maps looking at how Obama and Clinton have done state-by-state in regards to the popular vote and delegate count.

Pledged delegate map

• Obama has won 27 states, DC, Virgin Islands, and Democrats Abroad.
• Senator Clinton has won 12 states and American Samoa.
• The candidates tied in two states.

Popular vote map

• Obama won 26 states plus DC, Virgin Islands, and Democrats Abroad.
• Clinton has won 15 states plus American Samoa.

These maps were made before the weekend's caucuses in Guam, where the pledged delegate total was tied (2-2), and Obama pulled in an extremely slim win in votes (he won by 7 votes, 2,264 to 2,257).

I thought these maps were pretty interesting to look at how the candidates have done across the country.

Early last year I began looking to see who was going to run for president and who I would support. I like making my decision early so I can get to work talking to voters and doing what I can to gather support for my candidate.

After looking at Al Gore and Bill Richardson, I started looking at the three candidates that were most likely to win - Clinton, Edwards, and Obama.

After going through their issues, speeches, policy ideas, etc., I selected Edwards. Of the three candidates, he was the one who understood poverty the most, had plans for attacking the problem, and didn't just use it as a line in his speech. As many may know, poverty and the issues that go along with it (such as lack of food, health and wellness care, a safe place to live, etc.) probably ranks number one on my list of issues.

It was announced yesterday that Shell's profits were up 25% for the first quarter this year, hitting a record $9 billion.

From the AP article:

Europe's largest oil company said Tuesday its average selling price of crude oil leaped by 66 percent to over $90 per barrel from the first quarter a year ago.

That sent net profit soaring to a record $9.08 billion. Sales were up 55 percent to $114 billion.

Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer said in a statement the strong numbers were due to a "good operating performance, combined with increased oil and gas prices."

Earnings from oil production rose 52 percent to $5.14 billion.

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DNC Chairman Howard Dean today in an interview with CNN has asked that all automatic delegates (also known as "super" delegates) make their decision by early June.

The last presidential primary are held on June 3, and Dean said the party cannot afford to have this contest go on for almost three more months after that. New numbers are showing that John McCain is benefiting heavily on the fact that we have not chosen our nominee yet. Not only is he gaining strength because he is running as the Party's nominee, he is also gaining back Republicans who were unhappy with the Republican Party, Independents, and conservative/moderate Democrats. We cannot let this continue for four more months.

Today, we had the opportunity to hear from Chelsea Clinton speak on behalf of Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign. Even though I am a 100% Senator Barack Obama supporter, I was impressed with Chelsea.

Right at the beginning, Chelsea said that she wasn't someone who was comfortable speaking in public, but that she felt it was important to do because she thoroughly believes her mom is the best candidate for president. So important, in fact, that she has taken a leave of absence from her job in order to speak on college campuses around the country.

However, once she started speaking about Senator Clinton and her policies, you'd have never known that she wasn't comfortable. While she may look a considerable amount like her mom, it is obvious that she picked up her dad's speaking style and the ability to keep her listeners involved.

Oregon Democrats can do their part to encourage the nation to move forward by throwing their support to Sen. Barack Obama in the May 20 primary.

The fact that Oregon matters at all in this presidential race is something of a small miracle, considering the lateness of its primary. But since Oregonians have a rare chance this election year to influence whom the Democrats ultimately select to run in November, the state's voters ought to stake their claim on the future and help the nation transcend bitter divisions of the past.

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